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About The North Coast times-eagle. (Wheeler, Oregon) 1971-2007 | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1985)
THE N O R T H C O A ST $ -&Í- Ina dark rime the eip lupus to sec R.vri,k, F R iD A Y , 1 5 MARCH 1985 VOLUME 6, NUMBER A M O N T H L Y JO U R N A L 50 c a copy O F A R T A N D O P IN IO N BORN AGAIN BIRD REDITES ER OM COMA f ' J U S T A F T E R C E L E B R A T I N G IT S F I F T H A N N IV E R S A R Y O U T O F T H E C R Y P T T H E N O R T H C O A S T T IM E S E A G L E F E L L IN T O A F I N A N C IA L C O M A F O R A L M O S T E IG H T M O N T H S . IT S H E A L T H IS N O T A L L T H A T IM P R O V E D B U T AT L E A S T T H E R E IN C A R N A T E D B IR D H A S R E G A IN E D C O N S C IO U S N E S S A N D B E L I E V E S IT M IG H T F L Y F O R A N O T H E R F I V E Y E A R S B E F O R E G O IN G B R O K E A G A IN . T H E R E HAVE B EEN SO M E C H A N G ES. TH E N E W S P A P E R H A S R E L O C A T E D T O A S T O R IA . IT S H A L L B E C O M E A M O N T H L Y P U B L I C A T IO N A N D A T T E M P T T O D O U B L E IT S P A G E S A N D C O N T E N T . A L S O T H E R E W IL L B E R E G U L A R F E A T U R E S S U C H AS A R T A N D P O E T R Y IN S T E A D O F S P O R A D IC O F F E R I N G S . L O C A L C O V E R A G E W IL L B E A P R IO R IT Y — L O C A L M E A N IN G T H E O R E G O N A N D W A S H IN G T O N C O A S T S IN P A R T I C U L A R A N D T H E P A C I F IC N O R T H W E S T IN G E N E R A L . — M ic h a e l P a u l M c C u s k e r E d i t o r &t P u b l i s h e r H an ford -' N O ! by B a rb a ra M c L a u g h lin T he n u c le a r in d u s try h a s c r e a te d c o m p li c a te d an d p r e s s in g p ro b le m s fo r u s n o t th e l e a s t o f w h ic h i s w h a t to d o w ith a l l th e w a s t e . In a m o v e m e n t t o w a r d a s o l u t i o n to t h e w a s t e p r o b l e m , th e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t h a s n a r r o w e d a fie ld f o r s e le c tio n a s a n a tio n a l h i g h - l e v e l r a d i o a c t i v e w a s t e d u m p s i t e to t h r e e : H a n f o r d in W a s h i n g t o n , Y u c c a M o u n ta in in N e v a d a , a n d D e a f S m it h C o u n ty in T e x a s . H o w e v e r , n o n e o f th e s t a t e s i n v o lv e d is p a r t i c u l a r l y e n a m o u r e d by th e p r o s p e c t o f h o u s in g s e v e n t y - s e v e n t h o u s a n d t o n s , o r o n e h u n d r e d s e v e n t y - t h r e e t h o u s a n d , tw o h u n d r e d t r u c k l o a d s o f w a s t e p e r y e a r . At H a n f o r d , s e r i o u s q u e s t i o n s h a v e a r i s e n a s to i t s s u i t a b ility a s a w a s te r e p o s ito r y . O n e o f th e m a i n p r o b l e m s w ith th e H a n f o r d s i t e c o n c e r n s p o s s i b l e c o n t a m i n a t i o n of th e g r o u n d w a t e r in th e P a s c o B a s i n , in w h ic h th e s i t e is l o c a t e d , a n d e v e n t u a l c o n t a m i n a t i o n of th e C o lu m b ia R iv e r . T w o f a c t o r s th a t c o n t r i b u te to t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y a r e th e d i f f i c u l t y , if n o t th e i m p o s s i b i l i t y , of m a n u f a c t u r i n g c o n t a i n e r s t h a t w i l l r e m a i n l e a k - p r o o f f o r th e te n s of th o u s a n d s of y e a r s th e s e w a s te s u b s t a n c e s w i l l r e m a i n r a d i o a c t i v e a n d th e g e o l o g ic m a k e u p o f th e C o l u m b i a R i v e r r e g i o n , w h ic h i s b a s a l t , a s t r o n g b u t e a s i l y p e r m e a t e d r o c k f o r m a t i o n . In f a c t , t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r b a s a l t s a r e c o n s i d e r e d v a l u a b l e a q u i f i e r s , w h ic h b y d e fin itio n a r e p e r m e a b le and w a te r - b e a r in g . It s e e m s t h e d e b a t e is n o t " i f b u t w h e n c o n t a m i n a t i o n o f th e C o l u m b i a w o u ld o c c u r a n d e s t i m a t e s a s to h o w lo n g it w o u ld t a k e c o n t a m i n a t i n g r a d i o n u c l i d e s to r e a c h th e r i v e r v a r y f r o m t w e n ty t h o u s a n d y e a r s , a s c l a i m e d by R o c k w e l l , a m a j o r c o n t r a c t o r a t H a n f o r d , to a s fe w a s tw e n ty y e a r s , a c c o r d i n g t o th e N u c l e a r R e g u l a t o r y C o m m i s s i o n a n d th e U n ite d S t a t e s G e o lo g ic S u r v e y . A p p a r e n t l y i t is o n ly a m a t t e r o f t i m e ; a n d w h o e v e r is a l i v e w h e n it f i n a l l y o c c u r s — w h e t h e r it is u s , o u r c h ild r e n o r d is ta n t d e s c e n d a n ts — w i l l h a v e to c o n f r o n t th e f a c t t h a t th e C o l u m b i a R iv e r , one of o u r m o s t v a lu a b le r e s o u r c e s , m a y n o t be u s e a b le fo r i r r ig a t io n , d rin k in g w a t e r , fis h in g , r e c r e a tio n o r t r a n s p o r ta tio n , a n d t h a t th e w h o le r e g i o n , i n c l u d i n g c o a s t a l a r e a s — an e n tire e c o s y s te m — m ay be s e v e re ly a n o p e rh a p s i r r e p a i r a b l y a ffe c te d . In f a c t , c u r r e n t d a ta a b o u t i n a c t i v e w a s t e s i t e s a t H a n f o r d t h a t w e r e u s e d in th e 1 9 5 0 s a n d 1 9 b 0 s f o r th e d i s c h a r g e o f u r a n i u m b e a r i n g liq u id s h o w th e g r o u n d w a t e r c o n c e n t r a t i o n sh o w th a t g r o u n d w a te r c o n c e n tr a tio n s h a v e i n c r e a s e d d r a m a t i c a l l y . In 1967 th e l e v e l s w e r e f iv e h u n d r e d p i c o c u r i e s / l i t e r , w h ile s a m p l e s t a k e n t h i s m o n th c o n t a i n e d s ix t y to e ig h t y t h o u s a n d p i c o c u r i e s / l i t e r . R o c k w e ll a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t " p o t e n t i a l e x i s t s f o r m i g r a t i o n (o f th e c o n t a m i n a t e d w a t e r ) to th e C o l u m b i a , " b u t i t s p r e l i m i n a r y e s t i m a t e s i n d i c a t e t h a t it w o u ld t a k e h u n d r e d s o r t h o u s a n d s of y e a r s , a n d th e c o m p a n y i s n o t w o r r i e d a b o u t th e u r a n i u m e s c a p i n g th e r e s e r v a tio n b o u n d a r i e s . A n o t h e r r e c e n t s t u d y s h o w s t h a t th e d r i n k in g w a t e r a t th e F a s t F lu x T e s t F a c i l i t y a t H a n f o r d h a s b e e n c o n t a m i n a t e d f o r th e l a s t f iv e y e a r s w ith t r i t i u m l e v e l s t h a t a r e o n e a n d o n e - h a l f to tw o t i m e s th e f e d e r a l h e a l t h s t a n d a r d s . T r i t i u m , a b y - p r o d u c t of P U R E X , h a s b e e n l in k e d to c a n c e r a n d g e n e t i c d e f e c t s , a n d i t s b o n d in g w ith o x y g e n c o n t a i n e d in th e w a t e r m o l e c u l e a s s u r e s t h a t a w h o le b o d y d o s e is r e c e i v e d by a p e r s o n d r i n k i n g s u c h c o n t a m i n a t e d w a te r . O f f i c i a l s h a v e b e e n a w a r e o f t h is s itu a tio n fo r s o m e tim e but h a v e c a lc u la te d t h a t th e e ig h t h u n d r e d e m p l o y e e s a t th e f a c i l i ty d o n o t d r i n k e n o u g h of t h e w a t e r to r e c e i v e a y e a rly d o se e x c e e d in g f e d e r a l l im it s ,th u s c o n s i d e r i n g th e c o n t a m i n a t i o n " i n s i g n i f i c a n t . " I t ’s o n ly o n e s h i f t a d a y ; t h e y d o n ’t c o o k o r b a th e in i t , " s a y s W il li a m W h itin g , P u b l ic R e l a t i o n s M a n a g e r f o r W e s t i n g h o u s e , w h ic h c o n t r o l s th e f a c i l i t y . T o H a n f o r d o f f i c i a l s , e s tim a te d d o se ta k e s p re c e d e n c e o v e r m e a s u re d c o n ta m in a tio n a n d th e y w ill n o t c o n s id e r c h a n g i n g th e w a t e r s o u r c e u n l e s s th e t r i t i u m l e v e l s r e a c h tw o h u n d r e d t h o u s a n d p i c o - C O N T IN U E D ON P A G E S I X T E E N T H E ID E S O F M A R C H